Try Again

As it appears by last posting disappeared and all that remains is the title, I will try again.

First off - The Fire Investigation Seminar was a huge success. This can be directly attributed to all of the time and effort put in by members of Sooke Fire Rescue Service and a few District of Sooke Staff. We have received numerous compliments on the food, our hospitality, the facilities, the use of the motel and the firefighting tactics used by the firefighters themselves (well except for one small glitch) You should all be extremely proud of your accomplishments. This certainly put Sooke Fire on the map as a very professional group. Well done to you all and thank you for your support.

Heroes in the Sky was another great day. While we didn't sell as many calendars as we hoped, we did raise quite a few $ anyway. The Chili Challenge was awesome, even if the Sooke Fire Crew got ripped off during the judging. They were definitely the best decorated booth. (their chili wasn't bad either) With the calendars that are left, we need to find a way to sell off the remainder. If anyone is interested in sitting outside the mall on a Saturday or Sunday for an hour or two, let me know and I will make arrangements. Maybe a hot dog sale too!

Getting ready for Safe Halloween. The committee has met once so far and the group has expanded. This is a good thing as now with some new faces on the panel, we can share the workload and get more ideas. It seems several haunted house themes are already brewing.

My next project is to work on the grocery bags for the annual Santa Run. We will be partnering with Otter Point, East Sooke and Shirley FDs this year. Last year we collected a ton of food, so lets hope we can do as well or better this year. We will also be setting up the squad in front of the grocery stores as we get closer to Christmas where people will be able to drop of their donations.

Fire Prevention Week is almost here. Oct 5 and 6 will be the Annual Western Communities Fire Expo at the Metchosin Fire Station. Anyone able to assist at the Sooke booth on either day would be appreciated. You can do just a morning or afternoon shift if this works. All helpers are fed a great lunch as well as receiving a t-shirt. This is an important event as every Grade 4 Student in the Sooke School District has the opportunity to learn 8 important safety messages from the experts on hand. We usually see 800 -1000 kids over the two day event.

Information Update

Wet Weather Woes

Well it looks like summer might be over for a while (lets hope there is a part 2) and with that comes the drivers who have difficulty negotiating slick pavement. The first one came in today, just before the supper hour when a late model Mustang went off the road near the Glinz Lake Road intersection, hit a reflective sign post, took out a hydro pole guy wire and then finished up by hitting an old stump. The driver suffered no injuries and the car took the crash surpisingly well, although the front wheel may argue that point somewhat. I am sure this is just the first of more to come as the rainy season is upon us.

The Chilli Challenge and Heroes in the Sky is only a week away. Hopefully you will all be there to support this worthy cause. Even if you can only make it for an hour or two, it would be great to see everyone there. The calendars should be here anytime (maybe even tomorrow). We still need people to hang from the ladder truck. Find a friend, an enemy or even yourself. It's only for an hour and the feeling does come back in your legs.

Lots of new recruits this year. We have interviewed many applicants and if my math is correct, I believe we have accepted 17 so far to begin recruit training. There are still another 3 or 4 to interview, but they are all at sea at the moment, so these will be done upon their return. Going to be one very big class, so anyone that can assist on Wednesday nights will really be appreciated. Three of the new recruits have previous firefighting experience, so they will be given pagers and keys as soon as they have completed the orientation portion of the training. We will post all the names and platoon assignments for you to see. Let's welcome them all to Sooke Fire Rescue Service.

Congratulations

Congratulations are in order as Murray Lambert has been promoted to the rank of Captain. As such, a review of A and B Platoons rosters will be completed. There may be some shuffling of bodies to even out the qualificiations of those members assigned to these platoons. Stay tuned.

News of the day

Another new map has been posted on the wall in the alarm. This is the most up to date and complete map covering the District of Sooke as well as adjoining areas. Many thanks to Leah and Brian from our GIS Division for all their work on this. A similar map will be placed at Station 2 in the near future. You may have also noted all the paper attached to the window in the alarm room. These are floor and / or site plans of all the current building or development projects underway within the municipality. This will be updated on a regular basis, so it is in your best interest to familiarize yourselves with the material on display.

Recruiting is going extremely well. To date, we have had 14 candidates do their agility test and complete the interview process. Another five are scheduled for tonight. Did you know that if we want to add additional volunteer firefighters to our roster (over and above what we already are budgeted for) it costs approximately $5000.00 per volunteer for the first year of service and then about $2,000.00 per year thereafter. To put this in perspective, if we want to go from the current 50 members (45 in suppression) to 60 members, it will cost an additional $50,000.00 the first full year they join and then $10,000.00 per each year after.

A reminder to all the officers that we will be starting officer meetings again, the first one of the fall will be on September 7th. We will then meet every second month, on the second Tuesday of each month. Fire Office 1 Training also starts up again, with the first session of the new season on September 28th and then the fourth Tuesday of each month. Pub Ed Committee will also start meeting again on the fourth Wednesday evening of each month.